Lauterbrunnen

Lauterbrunnen was first mentioned in 1240 as "in claro fonte", a Romance language place name meaning "clear spring". By 1253, it was known to German speakers as Liuterbrunnon; the town had an alternate spelling of Luterbrunnen by 1268. While the meaning of brunnen is undoubtedly spring or fountain, there is some dispute about the meaning of lauter. Some translate it as clear, clean or bright (which compares to the earlier Romance language meaning of the place mentioned above), while others translate it as "many" or "louder". A local explanation is that the name Lauterbrunnen means "many springs", using a modern meaning of the word lauter in German; however, this could be an example of a folk etymology.

The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a single Roman coin which was discovered in the Blumental. When the Lauterbrunnen Valley first appears in the historic record, during the 13th century, it was owned by the Freiherr of Wädenswil. In 1240 the Freiherr of Wädenswil sold the Sefinen Valley to Interlaken Monastery. Over the following century, the monastery and other local lords began to expand their power in the Lauterbrunnen and neighboring valleys. However, around 1300, the Lord of Turn began to settle his Walser-speaking people in the nearby Lötschen Valley and into the highlands of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. By 1346, the Walser villages of Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald, Mürren, Sichellauenen and Trachsellauenen all had village governments and a certain amount of independence from the monastery. …

Lauterbrunnen lies at the bottom of a U-shaped valley that extends south and then south-westwards from the village to meet the 8-kilometer (5.0 mi) Lauterbrunnen Wall. The Lauterbrunnen Valley (Lauterbrunnental) is one of the deepest in the Alpine chain when compared with the height of the mountains that rise directly on either side. It is a true cleft, rarely more than one kilometer in width, between limestone precipices, sometimes quite perpendicular and everywhere of extreme steepness. In places the cliff walls are up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high. It is to this form that the valley owes the numerous waterfalls from which it derives its name. The streams descending from the adjoining mountains and, on reaching the verge of the rocky walls of the valley, form cascades so high that they are almost lost in spray before they reach the level of the valley. …

From the 2000 census, 513 or 17.6% were Roman Catholic, while 1,973 or 67.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 34 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.17% of the population), and there were 47 individuals (or about 1.61% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was Jewish, and 28 (or about 0.96% of the population) who were Muslim. There were 3 individuals who were Buddhist and 2 individuals who belonged to another church. 144 (or about 4.94% of the population) belonged to no church, were agnostic or atheist, and 187 individuals (or about 6.42% of the population) did not answer the question.

As of 2011, Lauterbrunnen had an unemployment rate of 1.9%. As of 2008, there were a total of 1,908 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 147 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 55 businesses involved in this sector. 223 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 35 businesses in this sector. 1,538 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 195 businesses in this sector. There were 1,623 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.1% of the workforce. In 2008 there were a total of 1,605 full-time equivalent jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 77, of which 70 were in agriculture and 7 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 207 of which 20 or (9.7%) were in manufacturing and 124 (59.9%) were in construction. …

Lauterbrunnen railway station, in the centre of Lauterbrunnen village, is served by trains of the Berner Oberland Bahn, which run to Interlaken, and by trains of the Wengernalpbahn, which run to Wengen, Kleine Scheidegg and on to Grindelwald; at Kleine Scheidegg connection can be made with the Jungfraubahn, which ascends inside the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch. The lower terminal of the Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren, a cable car and connecting train, is adjacent to the main station and provides service to Mürren. Besides Lauterbrunnen station, there are nine other railway stations within the municipality of Lauterbrunnen. These are Wengwald, Wengen, Allmend, Wengernalp and Kleine Scheidegg on the Wengernalpbahn, Eigergletscher on the Jungfraubahn, and Grütschalp, Winteregg and Mürren on the Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren. …